An Elevated Line -
Building a Straight Section

Track deck straight sections were up to 8 ft.
long supported by 2" by 1" underframes (j). Joins in
the supporting frame were sited as far as possible from any
join in the track deck - 3ft. to 4ft. away where possible.

If left with just longitudinal subframes and no
lateral cross bracing the straight track deck sections would have been
prone to warping. A 2" by 1" cross piece fitted between the
supporting frames would have been only 3" long and liable to
split. Diagram 3 shows how I dealt with this potential weakness.

I extended the width of the track deck (k)
to accommodate much longer cross pieces giving more effective
bracing against warping. The result above track deck level was to
provide an accessories bay (l) for trackside items such as
huts and signs. These bays are finished off by fixing ballast
retaining walls around them.

Another advantage of an elevated line is that it
is relatively easy to make changes later. The side walls can be prized
away with a chisel to make way for work to extend the width of the
track deck or to add new decking for a junction. This enabled me to
start with a simple but viable continuous run within my budget and
then extend the line in stages. However, being constructed of timber,
it will require annual inspection and maintenance work.

The diagram and
text on this page are copyright (c) Paul Backhouse 1999 and may not be
reproduced or distributed without the owner's permission.